Yates was freed from prison last week after he was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and possession of a wild animal. He faces up to seven years behind bars if he's convicted of reckless endangerment.

The orange and white Siberian-Bengal mix (search) was discovered in Yates' Harlem apartment earlier this month after the cat bit him on the arm and leg. Yates originally told doctors at the hospital that he'd been attacked by a pit bull, but that story didn't ring true considering the nature of his injuries.

Yates' lawyer, Raymond Colon, said his client lied because he didn't want Ming to be killed. Judge Melissa Jackson last week rejected a prosecutor's argument that Yates should be held on $15,000 bail because he misled doctors about his injuries and then fled to Philadelphia.

Yates said Ming was lunging for another one of his pets, a kitten, and accidentally bit Yates when he tried to come between the two animals. Yates doesn't believe Ming meant to hurt him.

It's unclear where Yates got the 20-month-old Ming, whom he's had in the apartment since the tiger was six weeks old, but there is a thriving black market for exotic wild animals.

He described bringing Ming home as a cub and then seeing him quickly grow bigger and bigger.

"He grew. I got attached," Yates told Fox. He said he misses the tiger and wants to visit him.

Ming was transported to Noah's Lost Ark (search), a licensed facility in Berlin Center, Ohio, that takes in abused and neglected exotic animals.

"He appears to be in pretty good shape, all things considered," said Dr. Alvin Burger, a veterinarian at the sanctuary who examined Ming twice last week. Burger said the cat has a healthy coat and is about the right size for his age.

Animal control officers, police and Bronx Zoo workers shot tranquilizer darts at Ming on Oct. 4 and then hauled him away. They also found a 5-foot-long alligator in the fifth-floor apartment, which was also tranquilized and taken to a sanctuary.

Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Saland said last week that Yates was a "man trying to create an animal sanctuary in his apartment. He suggested that Yates once had a pet lion.